FoundBut Still Searching: Reset
by dragonwrangler
Summary: A Touch of Smith and Jones fic. Part II of Found...But Still Searching. Tony is still struggling to figure out what to do with his life after returning from Afghanistan; and Fury deals with a few new snags in the SI case.
1. Chapter 1

Title: A Touch of Smith and Jones: Found... But Still Searching: Reset

Fandoms: Iron Man (2008)/Doctor Who (Torchwood)/Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD

Ficverse: A Touch of Smith and Jones

Rating: Teen

Warnings: None for Parts I & II, slash in Part III. Some spoilers for seaon 3 of (new) Doctor Who.

Summary: Tony is still struggling to figure out what to do with his life after returning from Afghanistan; and Fury deals with a few new snags in the SI case.

Author's Notes: Sequel to Found...But Still Searching. Set during the movie. Classic Fury (he was already established in the ficverse before Iron Man came out) and set within the Doctor Who universe. Big thanks to Kindar for the betacheck-- any mistakes remaining are my own fault.

Disclaimer: Iron Man and some dialog is the property of MVL LLC. Doctor Who and Torchwood are the property of the BBC. No profit is being made from this fanfic.

* * *

Chapter One

The sunrise was only hinted at in the sky to Pepper's left as she pulled past the security gate at the end of Westward Beach Road and headed up the tree lined driveway that led to Tony Stark's mansion. Reminiscence of a John Lautner design with it's sweeping flat white roofs and curving walls of glass, the mansion was surprisingly secluded perched on Point Dume where it overlooked the Pacific Ocean and after taking the long way in to avoid driving through the subdivision crowded against the north side of the property, Pepper was relieved to finally be pulling into her parking space.

"Good morning, Miss Potts."

Pepper glanced up at the ceiling as she stepped into the hall leading to the living section of the mansion. "Good morning Jarvis," she said automatically as she paused to key her i-dent code into the security system. She squinted at the wall panel and was pleased when it went from blue to green. 5 am and no caffeine yet; it was a good thing she could enter those numbers in her sleep.

"You are in surprisingly early this morning."

She nodded as she headed for the kitchen. "Yes. I thought it would be wise to be available during the Board of Directors meeting in case there were any questions that needed answering."

"Ah. I'm sure there will be. I took the liberty of starting the coffee machine for you. We received a shipment of Fazenda Santa Ines; I'm hoping that will be satisfactory?"

"Yes, thank you Jarvis, that would be wonderful," she said then had to smile at the absurdity of this conversation. When had she started thinking of Jarvis as a person instead of the artificial intelligence running the house? A puzzled frown followed the smile. And why was there coffee in the machine? She remembered kicking herself for not setting it up when she had gotten home last night. So why...

She shook her head. _There's coffee, that's all that matters. I've got more important things to worry about today._

When she reached the foyer, Pepper turned right, heading for her office to drop her purse on her desk. As she walked, she let her gaze wander over the familiar surroundings. She had been surprised at how hollow and empty the mansion had felt without Tony's personality to fill it during the three months he had been missing. That had not the first time she'd been left alone in the mansion— there were months where she'd be there more than Tony— however, she'd always had a good idea where he was and that eventually he'd be back; usually unannounced in the middle of the night with a guest she'd have to escort out in the morning. But while he'd been missing...

The smell of the coffee distracted her from thoughts she'd hoped had been put to rest when Tony had returned. She pulled down a mug and filled it then leaned against the counter to enjoy her first sip of the day. She knew where Tony was this time; and while he was in New York, she'd have a few hours of relative peace to clear out the emails in Tony's account that would have shown up during the night; she was sure every board member and shareholder had tried to contact him about today's Board of Directors meeting over the last five day. By lunchtime she knew the messages would have a completely different tone and would be going straight into her email and voicemail. Tony would be on his way back by then— she couldn't remember Tony ever lasting through a full Board meeting— and she'd be in full spin control.

The smile returned. She had to admit, she missed the challenges that Tony brought into her life though there were times she felt like the cat wrangling cowboys from the Super Bowl ad that ran a few years back. Pushing away from the counter, Pepper headed back to her desk.

As she came around the corner she ran into someone coming up the stairs that lead down to Tony's workroom. She staggered back and felt them grab her arm then her coffee cup before she could drop it. When she looked up, she found Tony right in front of her, giving her a small smile and a raised eyebrow. He waited for her to regain her balance then let go and walked over to the red burl coffee table to pick something up.

It took a little longer for Pepper to regain her mental balance. She stared at Tony, her heart beating rapidly— from surprise or something else she couldn't tell— as she exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

He gave her a puzzled look as he straightened. "I live here, remember?"

"You're supposed to be in New York!" She could tell he was trying to figure out why he'd need to be in New York and she waved a hand in exasperation. "The Board of Director's meeting," she said, "you're supposed to be there right now." She glared at him, which only caused the smile on his face to become more pronounced.

_Okay, amusement was _not _the response I was looking for, Tony. _"I left post it notes on the bathroom mirror to remind you when I left yesterday! Didn't you see them?"

"Nope, haven't been upstairs," he said.

_You've been down in the workroom all night?_ She wasn't sure why she was caught off-guard by that, or why it left an uneasy feeling in her chest; it wasn't as if she hadn't had to remind him that the human body actually needed sleep and food from time to time to continue functioning. It sometimes made her wonder if artists starved not because they were poor, but because they forgot to eat when they were caught in the throws of the creative process.

_But are you really caught up in whatever it is that you're doing down there or are you avoiding the outside world right now, Tony? _She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to that.

As he walked back to the stairs, she blocked his path and tried once more to get him moving in the direction the CEO of Stark Industries should have been going. It was the job he hired her to do. "If you leave now," she pointed out, "you can still make it."

Tony paused. He glanced at the ceiling, then at her. The smile was gone. "Obie'll take care of things," he said firmly, then he sidestepped her and headed down the stairs.

"Tony!"Pepper sucked in a deep breath, held it for a count of five, then trailed after him.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Pepper was able to said in a calmer voice, "You should be at that meeting, Tony. It's the future of your company they'll be discussing."

He glanced over his shoulder as he picked what looked like a sash off one of the worktables. The sash had several electronic component attached to it and the ends of the sash were anchored into a circular piece that reminded her of the rim of the Arc Reactor sitting in his chest.

"You really think it's a good idea for me to be there?" he asked as he walked over to the lounge area in one corner of the workroom.

She forced herself to think objectively about how things would go with Tony at the meeting then sighed at her conclusions. "Probably not," she admitted. "You'd just spend the whole meeting pushing their buttons." Tony chuckled as he dropped into one of the leather chairs facing a flat screen TV.

"Exactly," he said with a lopsided grin. "If I was there, they'd start demanding answers, I'd start messing with their heads..." He shrugged. As he looked down at the sash in his hand, his expression suddenly turning sharp and hard, he muttered more to himself than to her, "And I'm not starting up production until I know which direction I want to go."

Pepper bit her lip to keep from pointing out the reason for the Board of Director's meeting was to do just that, figure out what direction Stark Industries should take. But she had learned over the years when to pick her fights and she could tell this was one she wouldn't win.

There was also something about his expression that troubled her. There was a sense of potential violence there, like a house cat that suddenly spots a mouse and becomes the hunter it truly was.

That was not the Tony Stark she knew; that Tony was the gentlest man she'd ever met.

_And yet _that_ Tony designed some of the most effective killing machines of the modern world, remember?_

Pepper stared down at the mug of coffee still in her hand. _Which he designed__ to protect people. _A chill ran through her.

_And now? Who are you protecting now, Tony? _Her grip on the cup handle tightened as the chill became an unexpected burst of anger.

S_omeone better make those terrorists pay for what they've done to you, _she thought; then she shook her head and the anger dissipated, leaving her tired and bemused.

As she wrapped both hands around her mug, she asked quietly without looking up, "Is there anything you need, Mr. Stark?"

"Nope, I'm all set," he responded absently, his focus on the device in his hand. "I'll call if I need anything. Thanks."

Nodding, she turned and headed back upstairs to deal with the chaos Tony would have generated by doing nothing at all.

* * *

Colonel Nicholas Fury cursed whoever the hell it was that was calling him as he kicked his mind awake and reached blindly for the ringing satellite phone. Rolling off the couch he had claimed an hour earlier, he checked the caller ID and wandered over to the window to look out at the NATO ISAF base in Kabul as he punched the call in.

"Fury," he snapped.

"This is agent Coulson, sir. We've had something come up in the Stark Industries case that I thought you should be aware of."

Fury frowned as he stared at the glowing digital clock that showed the local time. He then did a quick calculation of the time where Coulson was. _0235 Saturday here so that makes it just after 1500 yesterday in LA,_ he thought. _What the hell could have come up before dinner on a Friday afternoon that I need to know about ?_ "Go ahead."

"The agents assigned to watch Obidiah Stane just reported in that Stane is currently in a meeting with the UK Secretary of State for Defense following the conclusion of the SI Board of Director's Meeting in Manhattan."

The frown turned into a scowl. "He's in a meeting with Harold Saxon? What the hell for?"

"It appears to be an informal visit, sir," Coulson said cautiously in a flat neutral tone.

Fury rolled his good eye even as his scowl eased. He'd snatched Phillip L. Coulson out of Harvard's economics graduate program back when he was rebuilding SHIELD before the CIA could snag the man. He had placed him in SHIELD's Financial Intelligence (FININT) department and in five years Coulson was running the department and had been the perfect person to assign the Stark case to. However, Fury had quickly discovered that, though Coulson had the patience worthy of a saint when wading through all the paperwork a company generated looking for that one clue needed to push a case forward, the man hated to make a guess without reams of facts to back him up. Fury was always entertained when he had to force the man to work outside his comfort zone.

"Not what I asked, Coulson."

There was an irritated sigh on the other end of the call. "My guess is that Saxon is inquiring as to the current state of Stark Industries. Saxon Enterprise was scheduled to put UNIT's Valiant aerial platform into operation on the 15th, of this month, but they've pushed the date to the 26th. Several of the high end electronics are sourced through Stark Industries. It's possible the launch is being delayed by the SI shutdown and Saxon wants a definite date as to when their systems will be delivered."

"Wait, back up. What do you mean, the Valiant was originally scheduled to go into operations on the 15th? How the hell is that possible?"

"Uh, sorry sir, I can't answer that; it's not exactly my department. Why wouldn't it be possible?"

As he paced through the dark office, Fury voiced his thoughts "The Valiant is almost twice the size of the Helicarrier— how is it Saxon Enterprises managed to build the thing in fourteen months? It took Lockheed Martin six years to build the Helicarrier and they had over twenty years to play with the plans."

"Advances in manufacturing technologies? The Helicarrier was built over ten years ago."

Fury shook his head. "They haven't advanced that much. It still takes almost five years to build a conventional aircraft carrier and an aerial platform ain't exactly something you wanna fast track." Stopping by the window again, he rubbed his temple.

"And okay, getting back to your department, wouldn't this meeting be considered a conflict of interest on Saxon's end? He dumped the remains of his stake in Saxon Enterprise to avoid that issue when he was tapped for the SecState position. Why take the chance to have that accusation come up now, especially since he's in the running for the Prime Minister seat?"

"This appears to be nothing more than a chance meeting, sir."

"Like hell it is." Narrowing his eye, Fury asked, "And what exactly did you pull on Saxon, Coulson? You wouldn't have thrown that analysis out unless you'd done some checking."

Coulson sounded perplexed as he answered. "To be honest, there was nothing to pull."

"What do you mean, nothing? He's the UK SecState of Defense; our file on him should be at least an inch thick."

"Not my department?"

"Ha, very funny," Fury muttered.

"It is the truth though. What we have on him reads more like a press release than a background file. Saxon only appeared on the political scene a little over four months ago, maybe we haven't a chance to build up the file? Still, there's got to be something the analysts missed, no one is this perfect." Coulson's voice had taken on a keen edge even as it trailed off; it was the closest the man got to sounding passionate. _And you can't wait for me to turn you loose on that file, can you, Coulson._

_But wait, four months ago? That's right; he took the SecState position just before Christmas; and then, less than a month later, Stark got himself kidnapped. _Fury stared at the ISAF base, still active even at this time of night, as he considered which way to throw Coulson. Was there a connection to the Stark case, or could Coulson be right and this meeting was nothing more than a quick status check by Saxon on behalf of a constituent? Saxon Enterprises was one of the big economic players over there.

"What happened at the SI meeting?" Fury asked, deciding he needed more information before he let Coulson loose on the Saxon file. Not that the man couldn't do more than one thing at a time, but the last thing Fury needed was more Stark tech getting into the hands of the bad guys. He needed to plug the that leak before he started losing agents. That, and he still owed Howard Stark for helping him get SHIELD up and running the first time around. He still carried a nugget of guilt for failing to track down whoever had been responsible for the so called accident that had killed both Howard and his wife Maria Stark back in '91. Fury still wondered if the collapse of the original SHIELD had been connected to Howard's death in some way.

There was a pause on Coulson's end that deepened the scowl on Fury's face. "What happened, Coulson," he asked again.

"The Board is filing an injunction against Tony Stark stating he is suffering from post traumatic stress and that his actions are not in the best interest of the company."

_Shit._ "Who proposed that?"

"It appears to have be a general consensus."

Fury heard the reluctant _but_ in that sentence. "And your opinion?"

Coulson took a deep breath before admitting, "Obidiah Stane."

_Well great, that's just what I need right now; a power play _and _a leak in the world's largest weapons manufacturing company._

Fury gritted his teeth for a moment, then sharply exhaled as he made his decision. "Right. I want you to find out if Saxon and Stane have ever met before this meeting. Also, I want a FININT team to flesh out the Saxon file. I want it done in the black— paper trails searches only, no shadowing. If I get wind of anyone following Saxon physically to get info I'll take them down myself— clear?" He continued on without giving Coulson a chance to respond.

"I want an update regarding the current state of the SI investigation plus a summary of the Saxon file on my desk in thirty hours. Gonna have to pull a long weekend, Coulson."

"Was already expecting to, sir. Coulson out." A smile quirked Fury's lips at the hint of excitement in Coulson's voice as he turned the phone off. _You're odd, Coulson, you know that? No one else I know would look forward to spending their weekend digging through paperwork. But then that's why I recruited you wasn't it? You fit right in with the rest of the oddballs I got working for me._

Fury turned and tossed the phone on the end table as he dropped back onto the couch. He was going to have his own busy weekend to deal with. One of his agents had caught a rumor of a delivery of Stark's mountain-buster missiles to the terrorist organization known as the Ten Rings; the same group that had kidnapped Stark. It was the last thing Fury wanted to hear; the world's top terrorist organization with missiles that could level a mountain. Still, there was nothing he could do about that until morning when he met with the agent.

Fury closed his eyes and was back to sleep within minutes. More than sixty years as a solider had taught him the importance of catching sleep whenever he could; though heaven help anyone else who tried to call him, no matter how urgent it was.

Unless it was a call saying the world was about to end. He'd take that call.

* * *

Pepper watched from the porch as Obidiah's limo came to a stop. She briefly rubbed her arms against the slight chill in the air as Happy stepped off the curb and opened the back door, then took the maroon insulated pizza bag that Obidiah held out to him. It was an even bet that it contained the 18' special from Ray's Pizza on Prince Street; that was usually what Tony picked up when he was slumming it food-wise in New York. The CFO of Stark Industries stepped out of the limo and gave her a sympathetic smile.

There had been no doubt in her mind that Obidiah would be stopping by after the meeting and had prepared for the worst. It appeared though, at least going by the pizza and the smile, that Obidiah either had time to calm down after finding out Tony had skipped out on the meeting, or he had not been all that surprised by Tony's absence. Most likely it had been the later.

It had taken her several hours to accept the fact that she should not have been surprised by Tony's move. _I guess everything really is getting back to normal, _she thought with a sigh._ That shouldn't be a bad thing, should it?_

"I'm assuming he's still hiding out here?" Obidiah asked as he joined her on the porch. Nodding, she led the way into the mansion.

"He's been in the workroom all day; unless he slipped out through the basement garage." Realizing that was a possibility, at least it was something the old Tony would have done, she glanced back at Happy just to be sure.

Happy shrugged. "Nope, he's still down there."

Obidiah looked at Happy as well as they stepped into the living room. "Working on what?"

"I have no idea, sir."

As Happy pulled the white cardboard pizza box out of the maroon one and set it on the coffee table, Pepper said, "He's been down there every day since he got back." She tapped the intercom button on the small black wall unit opposite the stairs to the workroom. "Tony, Obidiah's here." She turned back to Obidiah. "And I don't know what he's doing down there either."

A thoughtful look crossed Obidiah's face as he glanced at the stairs. Pepper felt an odd moment of panic when she spotted the brown wrapped package containing the old Arc Reactor sitting on top of a few files, on a side table near the stairs. She was sure the last thing Tony wanted was R&D getting their hands on it— which was one of the reasons she hadn't just thrown it out like he had asked; no telling who would have gotten their hands on it if she'd just chucked the thing, and who could she trust to dismantle it but someone at Stark Industries?— but thankfully the package failed to draw Obidiah's attention to it.

"Have you had a chance to look over the meeting notes?" Obidiah asked as he turned away and headed for the alcove that held the bar and a glossy black concert grand.

"They haven't arrived yet." She hit the button again. "Tony."

"It should have. I told my secretary to forward a copy to your email." Obidiah held a glass up in her direction and raised an eyebrow. She shook her head.

"I'm still processing this morning's emails," she explained then pressed the intercom again. "Tony?"

Chuckling softly, Obidiah poured himself a drink. "Yeah, I'm sure you are. I'll have a hard copy sent over tomorrow morning."

"Thank you." She shook her head and turned away from the intercom. "I better go get him. I'll be right back."

"Take your time; I'm in no hurry." As she picked up the items on the side table, Obidiah settled at the piano and started to play.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she shifted the items to one hand and tapped in the security code to open the door to the workroom. She spotted Tony working on something at a table in the corner. When the door slid open, there was a cacophony of electronic clicks and whirs from the machines around Tony but the rest of the workroom was silent. She was beginning to miss the deafening music Tony used to play to fill that silence.

"I've been buzzing you." She set the items down. "Didn't you hear the intercom?"

"Yeah, everything's..." He blinked and looked up as if surprised to see her actually in the workroom. "What?"

_You_ were_ answering my pages, you simply forgot to turn the intercom on, didn't you?_Pepper was too tired to be exasperated by that though and simply said, "Obidiah's upstairs."

"Great."

Stopping, Pepper gave Tony a curious look. The sash she had seen earlier was now strapped diagonally across his chest and the circular section was hooked around the Arc Reactor and was glowing brightly. Several wires led down from the sash to a device that encased Tony's right arm and at one end, covering his palm, was a circle that was also glowing just as brightly as the Arc Reactor.

She waited for some other response than _great_ but when he remained focused on the device, using a small screwdriver to fiddle with the elbow joint, she tried something that required an actual response to catch his attention.

"What would you like me to tell him?"

"Great. I'll be right up. Okay." He lifted his arm free of the stand and shifted his stance to balance the extra weight. As he straightened his arm out, holding it parallel to the table top, the image of a young Tony Stark pointing his finger and going _bang_ suddenly popped into Pepper's head.

She frowned. "I thought you said you were done making weapons?"

"It isn't. This is a flight stabilizer." When he seemed satisfied with his stance, he added firmly, "It's completely harmless," and slapped a button on the worktable.

Having no idea what the thing was supposed to do, Pepper was startled by the flash that erupted from Tony's palm that blew several objects off the table and sent Tony flying in the opposite direction. Instinctively, she closed her eyes and ducked, covering her ears against the sudden burst of noise, then quickly looked up to see if Tony was still in one piece.

"I didn't expect that," Tony said from where he had ended up on the floor with his back against the metal shelving unit that had stopped his flight. He brushed off a few electronic components from the shelves that had landed in his lap, then scowled at the mess scattered around him.

Energized by the adrenaline now coursing through her, Pepper shouted, "Completely harmless?"

Tony shrugged. "I'm still working out the thrust ratios." He looked at his glowing palm and muttered, "And, okay, Newton's Third Law here. Need to adjust the thrust output to number of units in use against current weight and gear."

"Would you like me to remind you of that next time, sir?" Jarvis suddenly asked.

"No, I think getting thrown into the wall twice is a good enough reminder. Thanks."

_Twice?_ Pepper waited for some kind of explanation of that comment, but when Tony remained sitting on the floor staring at his hand, she gave up and asked cautiously, "Should I get Happy?"

Tony nodded as he used the heel of his shoe to drag a scrap of paper that had been blown to the floor towards him. Pulling a pen out, he started scribbling equations on it wrong handed. "Yeah, that might be a good idea." He paused, crossed out a line and started over. "Ask him to bring the aspirin too."

"Right." Pepper took a deep breath. "Are you sure you're all right?"

He gave her a reassuring smile and pushed himself to his feet. "I'm fine, Pepper. Tell Happy to come in the back way and let Obie know I'll be up in a few minutes." He set his arm back on the stand and started unhooking the device. "I've almost got this thing figured out."

Pepper felt her earlier irritation return as she headed back upstairs and wondered what exactly 'a few minutes' meant to this version of Tony Stark.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note (November 2009)- A new scene was added to chapter one (didn't realize I had scene order problems until I started on chapter 4). Sorry it's taking so long.

* * *

Chapter Two

"The Board is claiming you have post-traumatic stress," Obidiah said with a touch of exasperation. "They're filing an injunction."

"A what?"

Pepper tensed inwardly at Tony's exclamation as she erased the sentence she had just typed, her attention more on the conversation than the press release she was trying to type up. Tony actually sounded surprised and hurt by Obidiah's statement, but he must have known how upset the Board was going to be by his actions.

"They want to lock you out." Pepper glanced up at that. It was almost as if Obidiah was enjoying twisting the knife in. But then maybe Tony needed a bit of a shock.

"Why, 'cause the stocks dipped forty points?" Tony responded defensively. "We knew that was going to happen."

"Fifty-six and a half," Pepper pointed out. The look she got from Tony was angry and hurt and she pursed her lips and fought down the sense of betrayal that look brought up in her.

Tony turned away. "It doesn't matter," he said. "We own the controlling interest in the company."

"Tony, the Board has rights too. They're making a case that you and your new direction isn't in the company's best interest." There was a touch of disappointment in Obidiah's voice and Pepper knew from past experience that was going to put Tony's back up.

"I'm being responsible! That's a new direction for me— for the company." There was a flash of amused satisfaction on Obidiah's face when Tony backpedaled in the middle of his sentence. "I mean on the company's behalf being responsible for the way that..." Tony looked at her as if seeking support. She just sighed and stared back at him. She was too tired to figure out who she should be backing in the argument and decided it was best to just stay quiet.

"This is great." Tony pushed off the couch, grabbing the pizza box as he headed for the stairs.

"Oh, come on," Obidiah admonished as Tony stepped around his chair. Tony ignored him. _You're going to have to talk to him about this one of these days, Tony,_Pepper thought as Tony said, "I'll be in the shop."

"Hey, hey hey." Catching up with Tony, Obidiah reached out and touched him on the shoulder. Pepper was sure Tony stopped more out of habit than any desire to keep the conversation going.

"Listen. I'm trying to turn this thing around but you gotta give me something. Something to pitch them." He pointed at the Arc Reactor. "Let me have the engineers analyze that, You know, draw up some specs—"

"No. No, absolutely not—"

"It'll give me a bone to throw the boys in New York!"

"This one stays with me. That's it, Obie. Forget it."

Shaking her head as the argument degenerated into a show of dominance over the pizza box, Pepper tried once again to focus on the press release. She knew the longer she waited on getting it out the more the press was going to go for sensational but unrealistic guesses as to why Tony had missed the meeting in New York. Thankfully it appeared that the injunction motion was still under the radar but that, Pepper knew, wouldn't last.

Unfortunately, she was coming up blank as to what the official statement should be. The traditional "Mr. Stark had a prior commitment" line— which usually translated to Tony was off having a good time with a few models— wouldn't fly since Tony had yet to make an appearance outside the press conference at SI his first day back.

Maybe Tony was going to change his image as well as that of Stark Industries. She couldn't undermine that possibility with a wrong word, but how was she supposed to know what was going on in his head?

Out of the corner of her eyes, Pepper watched Obidiah drop the pizza box on the table and pick up his drink. He stood with his back to her staring at the stairs for several minutes. When he turned around, she expected to see irritation or annoyance on his face. Instead there was a look of satisfaction that disappeared when he looked in her direction.

"Is that a press release you've been trying to write?" he asked, indicating the mess of papers around her as he set his drink down.

She nodded. "Thought it would be best to get it out before the morning broadcasts."

"Don't worry about it," he said, much to her surprise. "I've already got Robertson working on one." As he picked up his jacket, Obidiah smiled and added with a touch of sympathy, "You've got enough to deal with."

Though that was true, Pepper felt a moment of anger at being taken out of the loop. It had always been her job to work up the press release that directly involved Tony in some way though now that she thought about it, that duty had shifted over to Obidiah ever since the kidnapping. How had that happened?

When she went to set aside her laptop, Obidiah waved his hand. "You don't have to get up, I know the way out. I'll see you Monday at the office."

Watching him leave, Pepper took a deep breath and fought down a shiver as silence settled over the mansion once again.

* * *

Coulson waited until eleven rolled around before making his call to the London office about the Saxon file. Pulling out his cell, he glancing down to bring up the number but then paused when the words _ARCHANGEL_ appeared on the cell's screen. He frowned. He had forgotten his cellphone ran off the Archangel network, a satellite network Saxon Enterprise had started up late last year. After a moment's consideration Coulson turned the cell off and dropped it into a drawer. He'd have to remember to pick up a SHIELD satphone when he left the office.

After typing the number into his desk phone, he listened to the distant click of the encryption programs coming online and made sure he was facing the minicam mounted to the top of the phone as a male voice said, "SHIELD London."

Though the phone's screen remained dark, Coulson knew the agent on the other end was seeing a live shot of him with his name and rank displayed across the bottom— but protocol required a voice verification before the call could go any further.

"This is agent Coulson, FININT, SHIELD LA. I need to know where the Contessa might be today."

"She just arrived. One moment." Coulson blinked in surprise as the line switched over to the ubiquitous hold music that even SHIELD had been unable to improve on. Leaning back in his chair, he looked at the schedule on his computer. The Contessa was listed as being out of the office for the next three days.

He then looked down at the current time in London and thought, _What would have brought Val in at seven on a Saturday morning? _Shutting down the schedule, Coulson restored his report on Harold Saxon and waited for Deputy Director and the head of SHIELD's human intelligence division (HUMINT) to answer her phone.

Almost two minutes passed before his screen blinked on. "Morning Val," Coulson said as the woman on the other side of the call sat down at her desk. A tall and elegant dark haired woman, La Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine was one of the few agents from the former SHIELD that Fury had called back into the fold when the UN revived the organization. Her network of agents were the envy of the intelligence gathering world.

As she pulled a few manila files to the center of her desk, the Contessa looked at her camera and smiled. "Evening Phil. I see Nick's cracking the whip again."

"Not unexpected. I may have a new development in the SI case."

"I heard. Harold Saxon." She looked away to turn on her computer. "Nick contacted me two hours ago to give me a heads up that you discovered some inconsistencies in our files regarding Saxon. I'm curious as to why you didn't call me directly about that, Phil."

Coulson took no offense to the rebuke in Val's voice; as Deputy Director, Coulson should have informed her of the situation since it was Val who basically ran all of SHIELD's operations and intelligence gathering. "I wanted to make sure I had all the information straight before making any accusations."

"Fair enough. I haven't had a chance to review the files for myself but I had them pull Saxon's file and the SE file for me. I also have a copy of the SI Board of Directors meeting if you want to go over that now as well."

"How did you get a copy of the Board meeting so soon?" Though Coulson wasn't surprised that Val had one, he was surprised at how quickly that had happened.

"Al knows a member of the Board and treated him to an early dinner in exchange for an audio copy of the meeting. The SI Board is pretty pissed at Stark right now so it wasn't a hard deal to make." A self-satisfied look crossed her face.. "Since the CIA has been quietly nudging Al all week for some crumbs regarding SI, we used this as an opportunity to get a few markers lined up that we can call in on a later date and made sure they got a copy right away. I still get first dibs though. Your copy should be arriving by courier in the morning."

Coulson found himself smiling; he could easily imagine the type of maneuvering that had been going on. Both Val and her husband, Al MacKenzie had worked for the CIA back in the '90's during the year and a half SHIELD had been shut down and Coulson knew from all the calls he had gotten fishing for information that the CIA was just as interested in what was going on at SI as SHIELD was.

"Since it appears that Harold Saxon's file is incomplete, let me see what we have on Saxon Enterprise first." She flipped open one of the files; probably the original SE file from the archives that would include the raw data and any handwritten suppositions by various agents that might not have been transferred to the official file.

"According to our records, Saxon Enterprise was formed in 1972 when Saxon Technologies, a telecommunication company that Saxon's father, James Stoker, created merged with Farrel Plastics after that company had been forced into bankruptcy."

Coulson glanced at his notes. "That brings up the first of my questions. Where did the name Saxon come from if the father's surname was Stoker? There was nothing in his file explaining that."

"That was his mother's maiden name. She died in childbirth. Saxon legally changed his last name when he turned 18 as a way of honoring her; at least that's how the story goes."

"So we have a bit on James Stoker then? I haven't had a chance to access anything about SE from my end yet."

There was a pause as Val taped something into her computer. A frown appeared. "No, we don't. I just remember that from an interview Saxon gave a few weeks ago. Truthfully, Saxon Enterprise wasn't a big enough player for us to notice much more than its existence and who ran the company until the beginning of last year. That's when SE started launching satellites into orbit and got the Valiant contract from UNIT. That's also when Harold Saxon inherited SE, announced his marriage to the daughter of Lord Cole and put his name up for consideration for the post of SecState for Defense." She traced a finger down her screen. "SE itself is being run by a Thomas Wilkenson, who's file, now that I look at our records, appears to be larger than both of the owners of SE combined."

The frown on Val's face grew deeper as she flipped open another manila folder. "What the hell?" She shuffled a few pages. "Going by the date stamps, we didn't even start a file on Harold Saxon until March of last year."

"That impossible."

A dark look crossed over Val's face. "Yes, it is. Obviously someone's been tampering with my files." Coulson felt a moment of pity for whoever that might be; no one messed with Val's files if they valued their skin. There was a pause as she returned to the printed file and scanned a few more pages. "Ah, this may be a problem."

Coulson waited as Val spread the pages of the file out. "In 1990, the plastics division of Saxon Enterprise was sold off to the Roxxon Corporation." Val tapped a fingernail against her desk, and her expression became distant as she said softly, "You may not want to mention that in your report unless you have a good reason to, Phil."

"Why not?"

Val sighed as she rested her chin on her hand and looked at him through her minicam. "Nick was convinced that Roxxon had something to do with the collapse of the original SHIELD and possibly the death of Howard and Maria Stark back in '91, though he never had any proof to back that accusation up. This could have the potential of coloring Nick's thinking."

Coulson frowned. "Why would Roxxon have had anything to do with the collapse of SHIELD?"

"Nick never explained that to me."

"Did anyone investigate the possibility he might have been right?"

"No."

Val looked away and pursed her lips. Sensing he might have crossed a line of some kind, Coulson scanned his notes and said, "It's probably a mote point. I haven't come across any records of SI dealing with them."

Val shook her head as she took a deep breath and gathered up the SE file. "Well, you wouldn't. Roxxon would be a subcontractor to an SI supplier."

_Subcontractor?_ Coulson glanced at the top drawer of his desk where the cellphone was hidden. _That means something... _He couldn't quite grasp what the connection was though and shook his head to get his thoughts back on track.

"This isn't helping me much, Val," he said as he stared at his report.

He saw Val straighten and shut the SE file out of the corner of his eye. "No, I'm sure it's not. Let me track down who's had access to these files and see what MI5 might have on Saxon. Four hours?"

"Four hours will be fine. Thanks Val."

"You're welcome," As she leaned forward to turn off her phone, she gave him a look. "And not that you'll do it but I suggest you use those four hours to get some sleep, Phil." She then cut the connection before he could respond.

Coulson gave the blank screen a rueful smile then turned back to his computer to continue his report with the information he had. He could always correct it later.

* * *

Hogan glanced up from the schematics to the Disney Concert Hall's lobby to the set of flatscreen monitors mounted above his desk when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. He watched Obidiah Stane step out of the front door of the mansion and down to his waiting limo in the center screen as he reached out and pressed a button on his desk. "Stane's on his way down, Rob," he said.

"Thanks for the heads up. I'll clear him through the front gate."

"Thanks." Hogan leaned back in his chair and laced his hands behind his neck, rolling his head from side to side as he watched Stane's limo pull away from the main entrance. Mariam Ferris, head of the mansion's security night detail and occasionally Pepper's personal bodyguard, glanced up from her notes. "Only here one hour," she said. "Hm. Wonder if that's a good thing or bad thing."

"Especially when the boss kept him waiting for most of that time," Hogan responded. He sighed as he looked at the screen that showed Pepper's car.

Mariam chuckled as she followed his gaze. "Bet she'll be spending the night."

"Yep." Hogan pushed away from his desk. "Mind if we finish this when I get back?"

"Nope, works for me. I still need to update the guest list anyway; had a few late RSVP's come in today." She headed over to her own desk. "I'll see you when you get back."

Hogan nodded and headed out.

As he walked down the hallway connecting the northeast annex that housed the security offices, as well as the employee garage, to the mansion, Hogan asked Jarvis, "Is Pepper in her office?"

"No. She is currently working in the living room."

Stepping past the stairs leading down to Tony's workroom, Hogan stopped and scanned the room as he waited for Pepper to notice his arrival. The pizza box was still more than half full, and an ice filled glass sat next to it. The glass was probably Stane's. Hogan hoped that Pepper had gotten at least one of the three pieces of pizza that were missing. She had a tendency to ignore food when she was working.

_You know Pepper, you and the boss are way too much alike sometimes._

Pepper was frowning at the laptop in her lap, several sheets of crumpled up paper scattered around her on the couch. He wondered how many of those Pepper had been tempted to throw at the boss during the meeting with Stane and then wondered if she was going to throw any of them at him for not giving her a heads up about Tony canceling his trip to New York.

He cleared his throat. Pepper looked up, raising an eyebrow in question. "Just checking to see if you were staying the night or if you were going to be taking off soon?" he asked as he stepped over to the coffee table.

She shook her head and turned back to the laptop she was balancing on her knees. She gave the keyboard a few half hearted taps and then— much to Hogan's surprise— said, "Actually, I could use a lift; just need someone to pick me up at 7am tomorrow, no later."

"Uh, deal," Hogan said quickly, not wanting to give Pepper a chance to change her mind.

"Right." She picked up the laptop and headed for her desk, suddenly all business. "Let me just clear out these last two emails and then I'll check on Tony to see if he needs anything before we take off."

"No, I'll do that. I'll just put the pizza away first."

She nodded but didn't look at him as she sat down and started typing rapidly. "Okay."

After stuffing the pizza in the fridge, Hogan called Mariam. After he let her know about the change of plans, she said, "Whoa, she must be pissed. She only leaves when things are this messed up when she's afraid she might snap the boss's head off." Hogan had to agree with that take on things.

As he punched in the access code when he reached the door to the workroom, he spotted the boss sitting with his back to the door in one of the leather chairs. As far as Hogan could tell, Tony was just staring into space. On the table in front of him were two uneaten slices of pizza.

As soon as the door opened, Tony gave a start and quickly pushed himself to his feet "Pepper chew you out yet?" he asked as he walked over to one of the worktables.

"Nope, I'm guessing she's gonna do that when I drive her home."

The boss gave him a surprised, but oddly hopeful, look. "Something wrong with her car?"

Hogan shook his head. Clearly disappointed by that answer, Tony turned to pick up the sash he had been working on when Pepper had called him down to check on the boss earlier.

"What does she need a ride for? She can stay in the guest room."

Hogan shrugged. "She didn't stay."

A rueful smile pulled at Tony's lips. "So, she's that pissed at me, huh?"

"Probably." _Though no telling which of us she's more pissed at right now, _Hogan thought. "Want me to bring down an ice pack when I get back?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Maybe a few aspirin too."

"Sure thing."

By the time he reached the top of the stairs, Pepper was slipping the strap of her purse over her shoulder. Leading the way down to the employee garage, Hogan then headed for the back door of the limo to open it for Pepper, but she quickly stepped around to the other side of the car and dropped into the front passenger seat instead.

_Uh, oh._ Hogan opened the driver's door and carefully sat down. Pepper was staring straight ahead, her hands tightly gripping the top of her purse. Hogan took a deep breath and started the limo.

It wasn't until he pulled onto Highway 1 that Pepper said, "And when did you know?"

Hogan glanced at the clock. "Uh, about this time last night when I went down to get him to the airport." Hogan was glad it was dark and he couldn't see the look Pepper was giving him. As it was, he could feel it burning a hole in the side of his head.

"And you didn't call me because..."

"Wouldn't have made a difference, and you were going to have a bad enough day as it was."

Pepper was silent for a few moments. "Tony mentioned he ran into the wall once before tonight," she said.

Hogan grimaced. "Well, it was more like the ceiling—"

"The ceiling?" It wasn't quite a shout, but it was very close to one.

"He was testing out some rocket boots."

"Rocket boots? What does he need rocket boots for?"

"To make a quick getaway?" Hogan had meant it to be a joke to lighten the tension building up in the limo, but as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he realized it might not be that much of a joke. From the sound of Pepper's breathing, it wasn't much of a joke to her either.

"He said he wasn't building weapons anymore," she said softly as if continuing a previous argument. Hogan shook his head. "No he didn't." When Pepper turned towards him with what he assumed was a questioning look, Hogan pointed out, "All he said was that he was shutting down the weapons division till he figured out what he was going to do with it. I think his exact words at the press conference where something like that he was shutting it down until he could decide what the future of the company will be, what direction it should take,one that he was comfortable with that was consistent with the highest good for the country as well."

As some oncoming headlights flashed across the interior of the car, Hogan could see Pepper staring at him in surprise. Hogan shrugged. "Do you know how many times that clip has run on CNN?"

Pepper turned away, resting her cheek against her hand as she stared out her window. "So what is it that he's doing down there?" she asked.

"I don' know. All I know from past experience is that the boss doesn't deal with problems, he fixes them."

Pepper sighed. "So the question is, what is it that he's trying to fix?"

Hogan nodded. "Yep. That is the question.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

After setting the tray covered with paperwork, burritos, cheesy potatoes and a small coke on a table at the edge of the food court, Rhodey carefully sat down. He grimaced as a few bruises protested that action, and dug out the aspirin he'd stuffed in his pocket before leaving his apartment two hours earlier. He'd known then he was going to need them; he had made it quite clear to Tech Sergeant Matthews not to pull his punches during their workout, and Jason had taken great pleasure in following through with those orders. There were not that many opportunities for a Sergeant to officially beat the crap out of a Colonel and Jason was clearly going to enjoy it for as long as he could.

Still, the Tech Sergeant had been thorough in teaching Rhodey the finer points of street fighting and Rhodey had quickly picked up and incorporated several of the moves Jason had shown him by the end of the workout. And had managed to get in a few good hits in himself.

Hand to hand combat techniques had never been high on Rhodey's list of things to keep current on, except for what was required for his position. Hell, he was a pilot— his fighting was supposed to take place in the air, not on the ground. But after the events in Afghanistan, and having the head of SHIELD putting him in his place in his own apartment, Rhodey was determined to correct that little gap in his abilities. There was also the fact he was a Colonel now and it was beginning to sink in that most of his fighting from here on out was not going to be done up in a Raptor, but on the ground and most likely from behind a desk.

Rhodey shook his head and set aside the report covering the testing of a new F-22 system during the U.S. Air Force's Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment a few weeks earlier before starting on the burritos. After catching the news this morning about Tony's no-show at the Stark Board of Directors meeting, and the vote of no confidence that had apparently been thrown around at the meeting because of that bit of stupidity on Tony's part, Rhodey had discovered that the workout had been the perfect way to burn off some of his stress. He wondered if he should schedule some time at the gym on Tuesday morning; he knew Monday he was going to be hearing from higher up the line asking him what he thought Tony was up to.

_Rhodey, I'm working on something big. I came to talk to you. I want you to be a part of it._

A sigh slipped out. He wasn't about to tell anyone what he thought Tony's visit last week was all about. In retrospect he knew he should have stayed and found out; but he'd had a class of pilots to instruct. If he had let Tony talk, he could have been stuck there for hours.

It also hadn't helped any that Tony had been acting in a way Rhodey had never seen before the events in Afghanistan. There had been a guarded, wary edge to Tony as the class had passed by; Rhodey had watched him tense up and keep an eye on the students for several seconds before focusing back on him. The reaction had been well hidden, but he'd known Tony long enough to see it and he suspected it had been an unconscious reaction to an armed threat that had been ingrained into Tony during his time in that damn cave.

Rhodey had yet to figure out who he was more pissed at; Tony for refusing to get some help dealing with his problem, or himself for just walking away. But there was a good possibility that confronting Tony then and there would have only made the situation worse and walking away had seemed the best choice to make at the time.

And Tony was right; it was his problem to deal with. If he wanted help, he was just going to have to ask. Rhodey was sick of beating his head against that particular wall.

Putting the problem of Tony out of his mind, he settled back with the report and smiled. The test had been a leap in battlefield capabilities and could heavily influence how his students would be fighting future wars.

As he considered how to present the data, a movement caught his attention and brought his head up. He found Mike, holding a BK bag in one hand and a supersized pop in the other, giving him an appraising look.

"I'm surprised Jason let you walk away from his workout, Rhodey," the C-17 pilot said.

Rhodey waved to the chair opposite his own. "Letting me walk away means he gets another shot at me."

"True." Mike sat down and started unwrapping a BK Whopper from the bag. It was Rhodey's turn to give him a look.

"Your wife's gonna kill you if she finds out you're eating those."

"That's why I'm eating them here instead of at home— and you're one to talk," he said as he pointed at Rhodey's lunch. "And if you tell her, then I'm uninviting you to the Memorial Day barbecue."

Rhodey leaned forward and grinned. "Won't work. I'm the one bringing the potato salad, remember?"

"Damn, forgot about that." Mike grinned back and nodded at the papers next to Rhodey's tray as he pulled out some fries. "Stuff to torture your students with?"

"Possibly. It's the report on the JEFX tests. Haven't decided how I'm going to dump it on them yet."

"Ah." Mike chewed on a few fries, then said in a suspiciously casual voice, "Oh, did you heard? Stark Industries pulled their bid on building the GPS III system. Looks like it's going to Lockheed Martin."

Rhodey stared at Mike then looked up at the ceiling of the food court for a minute. "Great," he muttered darkly. "When did this happen?"

"Thursday, I think."

"Right before the board meeting that Tony didn't bother to go to. That's just great." Bracing his elbows on the table, Rhodey rubbed the center of his forehead. He felt a headache coming on.

Mike silently finished off his first burger and unwrapped a second one. "So, you didn't know," he finally said.

"No, I didn't know!" Rhodey looked down at what was left on the tray and pushed it away. "It's a good thing for Jason I hadn't heard about that before now."

"Nah. If you'd come in with an attitude, he would have wiped the floor with you."

Rhodey reluctantly chuckled at that observation, "Yeah, he would have, wouldn't he." He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

"Glad I don't have your job, Rhodey." Mike said.

"You know what?" Rhodey said. "That's not my job anymore. And until Tony figures out what the hell he's doing, I'm not going to waste any more of my energy worrying about what he's up to over there." He glared at the grin on Mike's face.

"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that, Rhodey."

"Shut up, Mike."

* * *

Fury crossed the tarmac at Kandahar Airfield over to the SHIELD C-130J Hercules that was waiting for him to get on board so it could take off. He absently shook his head as he looked at the odd shaped propellers attached to the four engines; to him they looked more like the screws on a warship than the blades belonging to a turboprop plane.

It had taken him half a day to reach his agent in the mountains west of Kabul, then another day and a half to travel the three hundred miles down to Kandahar to catch his flight. All that running about was beginning to catch up with him but he figured he wasn't going to get any rest once he got on board; the data he had received and uploaded would have been processed and now waiting for him the same as the plane was.

Shifting his gaze to the top of the stairs leading into the plane, Fury frowned at the sight of his secretary standing in the entrance. _Yep, no rest for the wicked. _"Not even going to let me get into the plane before hitting me with paperwork, Mala?"

Agent Malashree Rasali gave her boss a dirty look. "If I let you get comfortable I won't get any work out of you." Her expression turned serious as she handed him a manila envelope as he reached the top of the stairs. "Problem."

"There's always a problem," Fury groused as he took the envelope and pulled a set of pictures out. The top one was a shot of three of Stark's Jericho missile's sitting on their launch platform. "We were expecting this," he said as he stepped past Mala so they could close the door. He flipped through the other pictures and didn't see anything that jumped out at him. "What's the problem?"

She tapped the first picture. "There's three missiles."

"So?" Mala was apparently going to let him figure it out for himself but he wasn't in the mood to wait for that to happen. "Okay, mind's first to go; mind giving this old man a break?"

Mala huffed and rolled her eyes. "There's three missiles. The unit that went with Stark should have one missing."

_Damn._ "Because he blew up a mountain with it."

"Yes. And as far as we can tell, no other Jericho units have left the warehouses yet."

Fury thought about that then handed the envelope back. "Get me an appointment with Obidiah Stane."

"When?"

"Right now would be good but since he's not here as soon as possible will work too." He gave Mala a narrowed eyed look. "What else."

She glanced down at her clipboard. "Agent Coulson contacted Tech about the security of the Archangel network."

"The what?"

Mala clicked her tongue. "If you owned a cellphone, you'd know the answer to that."

It was his turned to give her a dirty look. "Why would I want to give anyone a chance to get a hold of me on my day off? Besides, if my agents can't track me down during an emergency, then I need new agents."

Shaking her head, Mala explained, "The Archangel network was created by Saxon Enterprise. Most cell phones use that network at one time or another."

"What do you mean, most cell phones use it?"

"When a cell phone can't pick up their own network, they can now default to the Archangel network which apparently has no know drop out zones anywhere in the world."

'So why was Coulson contacting Tech about it?"

"I don't know."

"Fine, I'll worry about that later. Next?"

"The Deputy Director's waiting on video conference. After that," she gave him an evil smile, "you get to do paperwork for the rest of the flight." She turned and headed for her chair.

"It's what I live for!" he shouted at her back as the plane began taxiing to the runway. She gave him a 'talk to the hand' sign but otherwise ignored the comment. He'd be tempted to run to avoid said paperwork but knew one of the reasons Mala stayed the top ranking pistol shooter in SHIELD was on the off chance she might need to shoot him down to make sure he did it.

Making his way over to the communication center, Fury found Val on one of the screen staring into space as she stabbed a letter opener into her desk blotter. When she noticed him, she leveled a look in his direction that meant someone was going to be paying big time for pissing her off. _Just hope it's not me she's gonna make pay this time, _Fury thought as he cautiously asked, "Saxon?"

"Doesn't exist." Val snapped.

That wasn't the response he was expecting. "So we don't have anything on him then?"

"Not a damn thing, and neither does MI5. Either the man didn't exist before last year or someone's been doctoring files."

Deciding to be the voice of reason for once, Fury pointed out, "It's more likely he just hasn't done anything to attract our kind of attention til now, Val." He strapped himself in as the plane began accelerating down the runway. "What do you want to do what about it?" he asked, knowing what her answer was going to be.

"Get a full team on him, interview people who say they've known him, get a agent into Saxon Enterprise—"

"Not yet," Fury said, cutting her off. Val's look darkened and he could see her knuckles turn white as she gripped the letter opener.

"Why not?" she asked in a low dangerous tone.

"Cause if he is dirty, I don't want to tip our hand just yet." Before Val could protest, Fury asked, "Did you see the take I sent from agent Kohzad yet?"

Val blinked and tapped her keyboard. Pursing her lips as she looked at the file, she exhaled slowly then said, "Those aren't the missiles we were looking for."

"Nope, apparently not, or at least one of them isn't." As Val frowned at her screen, Fury said, "It's only been two days since we found out our files were empty and we don't know know for sure if Saxon is involved in any of this yet. Lets check out a few other sources before jumping to any conclusions; if those don't bring in anything new, you can sic the entire London office on Saxon."

"Do you have any sources in mind?"

"Just the usual— CIA, Secret Service since he supposedly met with the President; SIS, Torchwood—"

"You think Torchwood might have something on Saxon?" Val asked, surprised.

"Torchwood may work outside the British government, but the government still signs their paychecks. If I were them, I'd have as much dirt as I could get on the people holding the budget strings and Saxon certainly qualifies right now. I'll stop and talk to Jack on my way to New York and have him send you whatever he's got."

There was a few seconds of silence, then Val grudgingly said, "Fine, we'll play it your way Nick," and killed her end of the feed. Fury leaned back in his chair, rubbed his eyes, then shouted, "Mala! Tell the pilot there's been a chance in plans. Need to stop at Cardiff. And you can make the meeting with Stane for the first of the month; I want to find out more about those stray missiles before confronting him about it."

"On it."

Fury closed his eyes and spent his few minutes of freedom wondering what it was like to get an honest-to-God eight hours of sleep.

* * *

Pepper recognized the signs of a breakthrough, but she had to admit, this was a new way for Tony to be celebrating such an event.

The Shelby Cobra raced up the coast and Tony expertly weaved the sports car around all the slower moving cars they came upon. Thankfully, those were few and far between since it was near midnight on a Sunday night. A quick glance confirmed Pepper's suspicion; that this was a celebratory joyride and that Tony was happy about something but she still had no idea what that might be. Apparently he had also sworn Happy into secrecy since she hadn't been able to get anything out of him all weekend either about what was going on.

About thirty miles past Santa Barbara, Tony suddenly down shifted. Pepper braced herself as they headed for an exit, crossing the southbound lanes to take a road that lead down to the beach. When they reached a set of railroad tracks that ran parallel to the coastline, Tony brought the car to a stop. In the Cobra's headlights, Pepper could see where the road narrowed on the other side of the track to a well worn path and continued on down to the bluffs.

Tony glanced up at the star filled sky and the waning moon over their head, grinning broadly. He looked like he was going to be content just sitting there. Frowning, Pepper said, "Tony?"

He shut off the car and gave her a questioning look. Pepper blinked in surprise at how many details she could see from the bluish light the Arc Reactor in his chest was giving off. She stared at it for a few seconds until Tony asked, "Yeah?"

She looked up at his face. "Why are we parked," she glanced around, "in a make out spot?"

It was Tony's chance to blink in surprise. His head swung around. "Is it?"

Pepper rolled her eyes. "A dark secluded spot overlooking the ocean? Yes, Tony, it's a make out spot."

"Oh." He sat silently for a moment, then asked in a familiar teasing tone, "Well then, do you wanna make out?" Pepper gave him a look and he laughed.

"Sorry, never thought about that the other times I've parked here." He suddenly opened his door, jumped out, and headed for the path.

Pepper banged her head against the headrest then got out to follow him.

When she caught up to him, she found him standing at the edge of a bluff looking down as if trying to figure out how to get to the beach. "Don't even think it," she snapped. He turned and grinned at her.

"Hey, I wasn't going to climb down."

"Yes you were. And should I point out that this isn't exactly the easiest stuff to walk on."

His gaze drifted down to her feet as if just noticing that she was still in her heels. "Wow, I'm... suitably impressed."

"It's not as if I haven't had to chase you across a beach in my heels before."

He thought about that for a moment. "That time in Rio with the three dancers?"

"And the time in Dubai with the real estate agent and there was the incident in Tahiti with the model and her sister—"

There was a soft chuckle. "Ah, forgot about that one." He then sighed. As she walked over to stand next to him, Pepper shivered as a breeze stirred their hair. Tony slipped his leather jacket off and draped it her shoulders then turned towards the ocean.

"Why are we here?" she asked again, softly, as she pulled the jacket tighter. Tony shrugged and didn't look at her.

"Thought you could use a break before you settled in the office Monday to clean up my newest fuck-up. I figured this was safer than cutting off your supply of coffee."

She raised an eyebrow. "Yes it probably was but, I'm fine Tony. It's not like this is anything new."

"I know, and that's the problem." There was something in the way he said that that had Pepper suddenly holding her breath. When he turned towards her, his expression was contemplative and slightly apologetic.

"Look, Pepper, give me two more weeks. After I get this project wrapped up I'll sit down and listen to any suggestions you have on what I need to do next." He shook his head. "Right now it's going to go in one ear and out the other."

Pepper pressed her lips together to keep from pointing out that was nothing new either. Clearly she was easy to read because Tony said, "Okay, maybe that wasn't the best way to put it but I'm almost there, Pepper. I've almost got it all figured out."

"All of what, Tony. What are you working on?"

"It'll be easier if I show you. Two weeks, that's all I'm asking."

She stared at him and wondered what exactly was going on. There was no reason for him to be asking for her permission, he was her boss after all. But she could see from the pensive look Tony was giving her as she thought it over, that this meant something to him. What though she had no clue.

"Two weeks," she said with a nod.

He grinned. "Great." They stood staring at each other and Pepper asked, "Can we go now, or is there something else I need to know about?"

"Uh, nope, that was is. Well, that and it's been six months since I've driven the Cobra."

"You just wanted an excuse to go joyriding?"

"Hey, I was multitasking. And yes, we can go now." He started back up the path.

Halfway up to the railroad tracks, Tony stopped and took a step back. Stopping behind him in surprise, Pepper realized that she could hear a car moving on the dead end road above them. Tony swore softly and glanced around them and Pepper felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise when she noticed how good of a bullseye mark the Arc Reactor made. Heart beating rapidly, she quickly pulled Tony's jacket off and shoved it at him as the car stopped and a door slammed shut. Tony fumbled with the zipper but managed to yank it up before the beam of a flashlight centered on them.

Tony stepped in front of her, shielding her as a voice called out, "Mr. Stark?" She watched Tony visibly relax as the light fell away from their faces.

"Hey Dave," he shouted back, "how've you been?" Tony headed for the man.

"Not too bad. Didn't recognize the Cobra." Dave shifted the light so they could see where they were going.

"Picked it up last year." When they crossed the railroad tracks, Tony gestured to the man with the flashlight. "Pepper, Ranger Dave Marconi. Dave, my long suffering assistant Pepper."

The man held out his free hand. As she shook it, he said, "Nice to met you ma'am." Pepper nodded, trying not to blush as she considered what this all looked like.

"I apologize if I interrupted another brainstorming session, Mr. Stark. Didn't recognize the car and it has been awhile since you've been down this way."

Pepper figured she must have looked surprised since Tony laughed and pointed a thumb at Dave as they headed for the cars. "This is where I come to clear my head. Dave's had to sit through a few rambles over the last few years."

Dave smiled. "Not that I understood any of it but..." He shrugged. "Gonna be long?"

"Nope, heading out now."

"Well, I'll see you next time then. Night."

"Night."

As they stepped up to the Cobra, Pepper stopped by her door and looked across to Tony. "Thanks for the break, Mr. Stark."

He nodded. "Anytime, Miss Potts," Tony said. He grinned at her once again as they got inside and Pepper found herself grinning back as he gunned the engine and headed back up to the highway. This was the Tony she knew; and though the responsible part of her knew she should ask him to slow down, she was going to enjoy the ride while she could because in two weeks she knew she was going to have her hands full, no matter how sincere Tony was about changing.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Tony Stark snapped awake then jerked his head back, startled, when he found everything in the workroom glowing with blue lines. The fact the workroom wasn't what he had been expecting to see when he opened his eyes didn't help matters any.

Grabbing the edge of the desk in front of him, Tony blinked rapidly and ignored his heart thudding hard against the base of the Arc Reactor as he tried to get a handle on what was going on. His confusion grew as he turned his head; the blue lines blinked then shifted to overlay the new objects entering his field of vision.

_What the hell?_

"Shall we continue testing the visual capabilities of the helmet, sir?" Jarvis asked calmly, giving Tony a start; the AI's voice was not coming from where he expected it to be. Tony slapped a hand to the side of his head then mentally kicked himself when he came in contact with cold metal of the prototype helmet.

Hand pressed against the helmet, Tony took a deep breath, and then said, "Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir."

"How long have I been out?"

"Twenty three minutes and 43 seconds."

"And why did you kept the video feed going even though you knew I was out?"

"I believed it would be less disconcerting to have the feed going when you opened your eyes. You have shown an aversion to dark enclosed places recently."

"I've what?"

"You have developed a tendency to activate the lights before entering a room," the AI explained, "and to make sure that the door remains open in whatever room you have entered."

Tony frowned. "I've always done that and anyway the workroom door is always locked."

"Yes, but you used to close the bedroom and bathroom doors in consideration of Ms. Potts's presence in the building; also visually you have an escape route in the workroom via the garage entrance."

Tony pressed his lips together. _Great; I'm being psychoanalyzed by my own computer. _"The lights go off when I go to bed, Jarvis." _At least whenever I get around to sleeping that is._

"There are windows in that room, sir. You now keep the lights on continuously in any room that does not."

He thought about that for a second before deciding he didn't want to give it any more consideration than that. He clicked the visor up and pulled off the helmet. "Reduce opacity on overlapping structural schematics by another 20 percent against ambient light," he said briskly, "and dock the tool bar in the bottom right of the screen. Use a circular format to open up peripheral vision on the right. Limit popup info to 5 seconds and three screens max unless I request more information. Anchor popup screens to the side of line of sight. Keep pitch information front and center at all times." _That way I'll know what condition I'm in if I happen to black out for some reason. _He pushed away from the table and stood up, tossing the silver helmet on to the worktable. "I'm going to grab something to eat."

"The corrections will be completed before you return, sir."

"Thanks. How long before final assembly?"

"If there are no more corrections, final assembly can begin in three hours and four minutes."

"Great. I'll be back before then."

"Yes, sir."

Jogging up the stairs, Tony turned right towards the kitchen, then changed his mind and changed his course for the bar in the alcove with the concert grand to make a celebratory drink. Glancing around as he reached into the mini fridge to pull out some cream to finish off his White Russian, Tony was surprised to see the early morning sunlight cutting across the room.

As he headed for the balcony with his drink, Tony asked Jarvis, "Is Pepper in yet?"

"She is scheduled to be at the main office today and tomorrow." Tony nodded as he stepped outside.

Leaning against the balcony, he looked out over the Pacific as he sipped his drink. It was a little on the cool side, but the wind was calm and the sun warm. He could hear the ringing of the Point Dume bell buoy and the squawks of the gulls on the thermals rising up from the bluff. Below him, he could see several ships— including one teal colored research vessel that Tony instantly recognized. He stepped back inside and shouted, "Jarvis! What's the date?"

"Friday, May 23."

"Thanks." Tony shook his head and went back outside. He'd managed to lose track of time; the NUMA vessel never cruised past the mansion until after the 20th of the month when they headed out for the summer season. _Which means the two weeks I asked Pepper for are almost up. Well, all I've got left is the assembly dry run which should by done by tomorrow evening. After that, I'll be free to focus on whatever I need to do next to get Stark Industries back in the game._

Tony scowled and looked up at the sky. _But I've still got no idea what game it is we should be playing. Damn it; was hoping getting the suit out of my head would clear it enough to start working on that problem but I've still got no clue. _His gaze drifted back to the research ship.

_That might be something to explore. If Stark Industries could offer groups like that equipment that wouldn't damage the environment they were exploring..._

He closed his eyes as he started running over a few plans, and then had to clench his teeth as the ringing of the buoy morphed in his head into the pinging sound the bullets had made as they passed through the body of the Hummer in Afghanistan. He'd been dreaming about that again just before waking up in the workroom; a repeat of the dream he'd had the last time he'd fallen asleep. He forced that memory to the back of his mind— again.

Watching the NUMA ship, Tony's mind skipped ahead to what might happen if he did go into creating tech for the non-military sector. If he gave Arc Reactor technologies to one group, even if it was one committed to pure research, what made him think it would stay in those hands? How long would it be before someone like Raza appropriated it? They already had too much of him already. Tony turned around, leaning his back against the rail as he gulped down the rest of his drink and stared into the mansion.

_So what do I do, keep it all to myself?_ A scowl crossed his face.

_ I'm not going to get a good night sleep until I know how the hell my weapons got into the hands of the Ten Rings._ _Nothings going to change until I know the truth— and get every last one of those weapons back._

He pushed off the railing and headed back to the workroom.

* * *

Stepping into the office of Stark Industries' CFO, Fury was surprised to find little had changed since he'd last been in there. The only major change he could see was the empty spot where the drafting table Howard Stark worked on used to be. The desk was new, but it was still the same size and occupied the same place as the old one. Other than that, the office looked just the same as he remembered.

"Mr. Stane will be with you in a moment, Colonel Fury," Obadiah Stane's secretary said as he let Fury into the room. "He offers his apologies for the inconvenience."

"Not a problem." Fury nodded at the desk. "I'll just entertain myself by rifling through the desk while I wait." When he turned back, he caught the man giving him a barely concealed eye roll.

"I would advise against that. The desk is locked and wired into the main security system. Would you like anything to drink while you wait, Colonel?"

_Hm,_ Fury thought as he gave the man a closer look,_ ain't intimidated by me one bit, are ya, kid. That's interesting._ He shook his head. "Nope, I'm fine."

The man nodded and backed out of the room, closing the door as he left. As much as he wanted to check out what Stane might be hiding in it, Fury ignoring the desk and stepped over to the window instead.

The first time he'd looked out this window, the Twin Towers had been the main highlight of the Manhattan skyline; the North Tower newly opened and the South Tower still several weeks from completion. Now, almost forty years latter the office he was standing in belonged to someone else and the cityscape in front of him had been radically changed.

Pressing his lips together in a tight line, Fury stared at the hole in the skyline and let his thoughts dwell on all the things he had lost in the two previous investigations he'd conducted at SI for a few moments— his brother to hate and anger as well as half his vision during the first one, then SHIELD itself during the second. He wondered briefly what this particular investigation was going to cost him.

A click of the door handle warned Fury he had company, but he remained where he was and continued to contemplate the view out the window. This visit, he had decided, would be more about shaking the tree than gathering any information and since he knew Stane would be even less intimidated by his presence than the secretary he didn't bother turning around— just to set the tone of the meeting right from the start.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Colonel. Been a little busy around here lately." Stane crossed the room and Fury heard the clink of glass on glass, and a liquid being poured. The thought, old school, popped into Fury's mind when he finally turned and stepped away from the window. It was the way Howard Stark would have conducted a meeting in this office; a drink in one hand, and often a cigar in the other.

"So," Stane said, as he picked up his glass and walked over the desk. There was no offer of a drink; Fury wondered if that was Stane's way of setting his own tone to the meeting. "How has SHIELD's investigation going? If you need wider access to our files, I'm sure I can clear that with the Board."

"Actually it's your Board of Director's I'm here to talk to you about." Fury reached into a pocket and pulled out a flash drive. He tossed it on the desk. "We had no trouble getting a complete audio copy of that Board Meeting you had a few weeks back." Stane picked up the drive, the shadow of a frown on his face. Fury nodded his head towards the device.

"Thought it a bit odd that we were able to get a clear copy of the meeting. Would have figured you'd have something in place to prevent that." It had taken the tech department a week to tweak the copy they got so that it sounded more like it had been recorded from the walls instead of from someone's coat pocket so he could dangle that little piece of misdirection in front of Stane just to see what he could get out of it.

"We do." Looking up, Stane narrowed his eyes as he walked around his desk and placed the drive next to his computer. "And I find it a little unsettling that SHIELD wiretapped us; and that you're admitting it to me."

"You already know we're investigating Stark Industries. I can forward the paperwork for the wiretap to your legal department if ya want." As Stane set his glass down and sat in his chair, Fury crossed his arms and stood across the desk from him. "I'm guessing someone is trying to take advantage of the uncertainty currently running through SI to make a power play. That would complicate my investigation of Stark's kidnapping. What also complicates things is that little visit you had with Harold Saxon. Not really in the mood to investigate why Saxon Enterprise is suddenly taking an interest in Stark Industries on top of everything else." He noted the surprise in Stane's eyes, but had to give the man credit for not showing more than that.

"You bugged my office as well?"

"Nope. We're just watching it."

That answer seemed to satisfy Stane. "Ah, of course." Leaning back, the man nodded and said, "The Secretary of Defense was here to make sure the deliveries of materials for the Valiant project would be sent on time. Since none of the equipment Saxon Enterprise ordered from us is connected to our weapons department, I assured him that we'd have no trouble meeting his deadline." He raised his glass. "However, haven't been able to tell our visitors from the Defense Department the same."

Fury snorted, mildly amused by that. "Yeah, bet they're a bit annoyed about that. Guessing that's why we got the okay on the wiretap."

Stane saluted with his glass. "Probably. Good thing for you that SHIELD never signed a contract with us, huh?"

Fury recognized a fishing for information question when he saw one and decided to give Stane something else to worry about. "Well, considering Howard Stark gave me start up stock when SI went public before bringing me in to run SHIELD, figured a contract with SI might be a conflict of interest there."

That got him an intense, calculating look. "I wasn't aware you were a stockholder, Colonel." Fury shrugged. Taking a sip, Stane shook his head and looked down at the drive. "And you're right; you shouldn't have gotten anything out of that room. We'll have to do a complete review of the system to see if we can figure out why our system didn't work. I'll forward the findings to your New York office." He gave Fury a curious look. "Do you think it was sabotage?"

"Possibly. Ain't like there's not a few companies out there that wouldn't mind seeing SI disappear off the map. It would explain the hit on Stark. Seriously doubt whoever it was that took him was planning on sending him back in one piece."

"You don't think it was the Ten Rings who took him?"

"Oh, it was the Ten Rings all right but someone contracted them then got 'em the weapons they used to kidnap Stark. You've got a leak and I want it plugged before any of my agents start getting hit with your little toys."

"Well, if you want a list of suspects, I'd be happy to supply you with one."

Yeah, _I just bet ya would._

_

* * *

_

Coulson was in the process of reviewing the floor plans of the Disney Concert Hall with his team when his cell pinged. That raised a few eyebrows but Coulson ignored them as he turned away from the group to take the call. There was only on person who could bypass the shut off functions on his cell.

"Did ya get the tickets to tonight's event, Coulson?" Fury asked as soon as the call came online.

"Actually, I was thinking of just flashing my badge and walking in through the front door," Coulson answered without missing a beat. "But I also picked up some tickets for me and my team just in case that didn't work."

"Ya know, kinda like that first option." Coulson had no trouble imagining a grim smile crossing Fury's lips with those words. "Just rattled Stane's cage," he said. "Let's keep the pressure going tonight. Use the tickets, but I want you out in the open. Let the rest of your team fade into the background. How's Plan B coming along?"

"We're at twenty-seven percent of goal at the moment."

"Twenty-seven? That sounds a bit high for a week's work."

"Well, the climate's in your favor right now. I'm guessing acquisition of any further SI stocks will be more difficult to obtain without raising a few eyebrows from here on out."

Coulson paused then Fury said, "Okay, let's hear it."

After taking a deep breath Coulson answered, "The risks in Plan B seem to outweigh any benefits that might be gained, Colonel."

"And what risk are those?"

_I'm sure the same ones you've already thought of, sir,_ Coulson thought. "If the Security Council gets wind of this plan," he said out loud, "it could damage SHIELD's neutrality status. Directly interfering with a major corporation like Stark Industries—"

"Are we interfering?"

That stopped Coulson for a moment. "I assume the purpose of acquiring the stocks was to gain a majority vote on the Board of Directors. Was I wrong to assume that?"

"Nope, but you are acquiring those stocks using the start up stocks that Howard Stark gave me when the company went public as the base, correct?"

"Yes," Coulson answered cautiously.

"And are you using any SHIELD funds to purchase the new stocks or using SHIELD time to acquire those stocks?"

"That's splitting hairs, sir."

"Yep, but you could make the argument that this is just me as a SI stockholder protecting my interests, not SHIELD messing with SI's future. I'm betting I can get away with it."

"Well, they could get you on insider trading, and for using SHIELD resources since you are using me as your stockbroker—"

"You were licensed for that before I grabbed ya for SHIELD."

"Yes, but—" Coulson considered that for a few seconds, and then nodded. "Okay, maybe the risks aren't as high as I believe."

"Yes they are."

Coulson pressed his lips together and gave the wall in front of him an exasperated look as he took another deep breath. "Thanks for letting me know that. Sir."

"If you can honestly tell me you're not having fun sneaking those stocks out under the radar, I'd be willing to consider shutting down Plan B, Phil."

"You know I can't do that."

There was a low chuckle on the other end of the call. "Yeah, I do. I'm hoping I'm not gonna need to use Plan B because it _will_ raise holy hell, but I do intend to make sure my bases are covered. Changing the subject slightly; I want you on a plane to Afghanistan as soon as you're done at the party. You can give me your next update when you're in the air."

"You don't want me to try and get an appointment with Stark while I'm there?"

"No, still want you to do that. You're just gonna have to make the meeting for sometime next month. You should be back to the States by the fifteenth, but I want ya to make a report to President Ryan's advisers on the way back to LA. The White House is starting to get a little pushy about the lack of progress we've shown on the investigation."

"Well, they are SHIELD's main financial backers— and it is an election year."

"Yeah. Still a pain in the ass to deal with. Politics ain't my thing."

"I would have thought that would be one of the joys of being Director, sir."

"Ain't you the comedian tonight."

"I try my best. Anything else?"

"Nope. That should do it. Fury out."

* * *

Pepper took one last look in the mirror as she shifted her shoulders and ran a hand over the surface of the red dress she had purchased just before Tony had left for Afghanistan. It was the first time she had worn it and though it fit perfectly, something felt out of place. She frowned as she ran a critical eye over herself and realized it wasn't the dress that was off.

_There's nothing to be worried about. You've done this benefit every year since you talking Tony into throwing it three years ago. Its good press and it'll give Tony's image a boost right when he needs it._

She shook her head as she stared into the mirror. _Then why doesn't this feel right? _An odd thought crossed her mind. _Maybe because all this was my idea and not his? How much of Tony's image was shaped by me, and how much has been shaped by Tony himself?_

Pepper looked away from her reflection. The answer she knew was that most of Tony's public image _had_ been shaped by her— she controlled what went out regarding Tony's activities, and she had mastered the art of spin control over the years dealing with the paparazzi and the press when they caught Tony slipping up in public, twisting their view to what she thought it should be. But did she know the Tony Stark that existed beneath the life she had shaped and molded into what it was today? Had she ever known who that person was?

The trip to the beach two weeks back had been an eye-opener. When Tony needed a break, she was always prepared for him taking off for whatever the current hot spot was or big party that might be going on with whatever top model that might be in town at the time on his arm. It never occurred to her that he might be just as happy kicking back on a beach thinking about a project as he would being the center of attention. Pepper had to admit to herself that even she had fallen for the image that she had created for Tony. It was a damn convincing one— one that Tony had gone along with no questions asked.

But was the persona she had created for him really what Tony wanted to be? That she didn't know, and that was something she had never thought to ask about. Oh, she had asked his opinion on a few subjects from time to time, but he had always kicked it right back to her to make the final decision. He had trusted her to do what was best for him and for Stark Industries.

_And have I done that?_ She looked back into the mirror and couldn't find any answers there.

Stepped away from the mirror, she picked up the clutch that held her Blackberry. She shouldn't need anything else— and if she did, Mariam or one of the other bodyguards watching over her at the party could track down anything she did need. Moving into her living room, she smiled at Mariam as she grabbed the ear bud for the cell and stuck it in the clutch.

"Really don't need that," Mariam said with a nod and a knowing smile at the clutch.

Pepper laughed, letting a little of her tension bleed off; it wouldn't look good if the press caught her looking stressed out so she better deal with it now. "If I don't take it, I'll need it. If I do, I won't." Pepper walked past her bodyguard and out the door. "How are things looking at the Hall?" she asked when she got into the back seat of the waiting limo.

Mariam settled in the back with Pepper. "The police are beginning to reroute traffic around the Hall so the guests have a clear shot to the front entrance; the caterers have the tables set up and are arranging the food displays even as we speak; and the musicians have just arrived. The only glitch we've had so far is the parking situation— they underestimated the number of parking spots to put in reserve."

"This is the third year we've held it there. How could they underestimate that?"

"Because the boss got himself kidnapped this year. It raised interest and we got a higher return on late RSVP that in previous years. Attendance went up a little over thirty percent. They only added in a ten percent increase for the parking situation."

Pepper rolled her eyes and started to unzip the clutch. Mariam stopped her by resting her hand over Pepper's.

"Already taken care of. You'll have enough to worry about tonight answering questions about the boss." She raised an eyebrow. "Any ideas about how you're going to explain his absence? Just so we all know the playbook for tonight."

That thought hadn't crossed Pepper's mind. There would be several people at the party— reporters mostly— who would recognize and attempt to corner some of the security people from SI to get whatever tidbit on Tony they could lay their hands on. Usually they didn't bother but considering Tony's silence since returning from Afghanistan the normal rules of conduct were sure to go out the window tonight.

She unzipped the clutch and pulled out the Blackberry. Mariam lifted her hand away and sat back. "Give me a few minutes to straighten out my thoughts on that," Pepper said as she started typing up some notes, "Will you be having a staff meeting before the doors open?"

"With the main team an hour before the guests are due to arrive. I can get the info out to the rest afterwards."

"That'll work. I'll give you the official version by the time we get there." She paused for a second, and then nodded her head. "And I'll make sure the press release is out before the evening news. Can't do anything to change Entertainment Tonight's spin, but should be able to keep the late night coverage under control."

"So you already know what angle ET's taking then?"

A sour look crossed over Pepper's face. "That he's suffering from post traumatic stress and hiding at the mansion? Yeah, I caught last night's preview and the little hints they were dropping." She scowled down at her Blackberry and muttered. "Hopefully after the meeting Monday I can set that record straight once and for all."

"Meeting?"

Pepper nodded. "Tony's scheduled to sit down with Obadiah to go over what direction to take SI in. Would have been nice if we could have done that before the benefit, but Tony wanted to finish up whatever it is he's working on before the meeting."

"Getting the last weapon out of his head before leaving it all behind?"

"I'm not sure." She looked at Maria. "Honestly I have no idea what he's working on." She shrugged her shoulders and stared at the screen on her PDA. "All I know is that, when he's done with it he'll show it to us; and then it'll be our job to figure out where to go from there."


End file.
